Needle stick injury among the dental students in the Qassim University, KSA: It’s Prevalence, student’s Knowledge and attitude

Abstract

Needle stick injuries (NSI) are the commonest route by which blood borne viruses and/or infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C are transmitted from patients to health care workers (HCW) dental students are also at risk of such infections and injuries due to accidental contamination during their practical occupational exposure. There is hardly any information regarding the knowledge and experiences of NSI among dental students in Saudi Arabia Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and prevalence of NSIs among dental students in Qassim university. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: dental clinics of Qassim University. The population included undergraduate students (3rd ,4th,5th year) and intern’s dentists/College of Dentistry /Qassim University. Result: In the present study. A total number of 98 student participated 56.1% were female and 43.9% were male. A total of 27.6% participants had an NSI during their clinical training. Also, 83% of the students considered hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV to be transmitted by NSIs. Conclusion: Although the level of knowledge on the risk of cross-infection from NSI was high, there was decreased awareness on the means of prevention and protocol. Keywords: NSI, Awareness, cross infection, prevalence, hazard.